Silence
by Mainframe
Summary: Meriadoc Brandybuck is keeping a secret, Frodo, Pippin and Sam must uncover the truth before Merry is beyond reach. Follow on from 'Brandywine'


TITLE: Silence  
  
AUTHOR: Mainframe  
  
BETA: Llinos  
  
RATING: Varies from chapter to chapter, (PG - NC-17) WARNING!  
  
PAIRING: That would be telling.  
  
Disclaimer: The Hobbits belong to J. R.R. Tolkien and are not of my creation and I make no money from this or other stories involving them, this is purely a non-profit fiction of my creation in honour of the book & movies. However this storyline is mine.  
  
SUMMARY: The Brandybuck temper was legendary throughout The Four Farthings and even stretching as far a field as Bree. So it came as no surprise to those who had cause to visit Brandy Hall, that young Meriadoc Brandybuck was a 'dark horse' of late. But is the change in his temperament purely teenage hormones or something altogether darker?  
  
NOTES: This story is a follow-on from "Brandywine" and is based in Buckland, Brandy Hall. This story is quite a dark one and will vary in rating so I ask you not to read it unless you are prepared for this fluctuation. As always I am eager for constructive feedback, no flames please. Enjoy!  
  
I also regret to announce that due to my moving country and starting a three-year course in Sept, my updates for this new story will not be as frequent as they have been with 'Brandywine'. Fear not, once I start something I always finish it, however long it takes. And to all of you who contacted me privately and were kind enough to leave me feedback I'd just like to send you a big hug and heartfelt 'thank you' for your interest...but mostly your patience. Part two is delayed due to H/W.  
  
Additional Thanks: Go out to Llinos and Mariagold and all the members of Quill9! I have been very rude and have not stayed in contact for so long...my apologise, this course is turning out harder than I thought, but at least I'm on line again! Speak to you all soon!  
  
  
  
Silence  
  
  
  
Chapter 1: Wake Up Call!  
  
  
  
"Merry!" Esmeralda Brandybuck called to her son through the closed door. It was a bright and beautiful day outside and she was determined to get Merry out of the Halls, and hopefully in doing so, break this foul brooding mood that had settled on him once again.  
  
When no answer came she knocked loudly, "Merry! It's time to get up sleepyhead! Pippin is asking after you and he's threatening to eat your breakfast if you don't hurry."  
  
A low frustrated moan filtered through and Esmeralda acknowledged it with a grin, "Remember to wash your face, love." With that said she headed towards the kitchen in a vain attempt to stop her beloved nephew from carrying out his threat. Merry had been off his food for close to a week now and although the healers could find nothing wrong with the boy, she had noticed a slight thinning in him. Unlike his cousin Frodo Baggins, who had always been a slender lad, this weight loss did not sit well on her Meriadoc.  
  
As she approached the kitchen she heard a loud crash followed by the cook, Honey's unmistakable voice boom "PERAGRIN TOOK!"  
  
  
  
***  
  
"Such a pretty little thing..."  
  
Merry awoke with a start as he heard someone knocking hard on his bedroom door. He groaned as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the morning rays; he heard his mother's teasing voice float through the door, but couldn't really focus on what she was actually saying. He managed to catch a few words 'Pippin' and 'breakfast' and 'wash', it was enough to piece together the rest.  
  
He slid from his bed and padded across to the washbowl that had been placed in his room that morning by Honey. It wasn't her job by far, but it was the only way she could ensure that Merry washed before he entered her nicely cleaned kitchen, that and the fact that she had a soft spot for him, although she would never admit it.  
  
He cupped the cool water in both hands and splashed himself several times to get rid of the fatigue that dogged his waking hours of late, usually he was one of the first to rise in the Halls and the last to retire, but that was before.  
  
A small square 'Man's Mirror' hung on the wall directly above the washbasin; he braced himself against the solid wooden chest-of-drawers and eventually raised his head enough to stare through wild, sleep tangled curls at his own reflection. A pale-faced image stared back; it seemed to mock him as he took in all its detail. His eyes bore a haunted, hunted look, which was becoming harder and harder to conceal, especially from his limpet cousin Peregrin. His once full cheeks were showing signs of thinning, but he would be able to get away with that for a while yet. At his age he would often fill out only to then shoot up in height, not a problem.  
  
"Such a pretty little thing..."  
  
He shuddered; desperate to keep his composure as that one sentence echoed through his mind once more, it seemed able to follow him into the waking world of late.  
  
*Get a hold of yourself Merry-lad, can't have you falling to pieces over something so stupid now can we, what would father think? *  
  
But as he raked his trembling hand through his locks once more, he knew. He was slowly breaking...it had begun on his last visit to Hobbiton. He had worked so, so hard to contain his hurts and was pleased with himself, it had worked. Until the Brandywine incident stripped him of his carefully maintained control, he had not escaped his visit without a thorough grilling from his uncle and a half dozen or so questions from Laura Goodbody, the healer that attended to their ills.  
  
He sighed in reflection. His uncle, he'd managed to convince that he had just got into a fight with one of the lads; one of many, many relatives that inhabit Brandy Hall and that if his father had found out he would have been punished. After much talking and Merry sticking to his story adamantly, Bilbo finally accepted his explanation. After all, as Bilbo said himself to his young nephew 'lads will be lads'. He had hated lying to the kind old hobbit but it could not be avoided, he would NOT bring shame to his family. He would rather die than inflict that upon them.  
  
Hamfast, Bilbo's gardener and long-time friend knew that he had been lying; his old eyes had pierced Merry's and taken his breath away when Laura had quizzed him privately in the kitchen. There was a sadness to them as he searched Merry's eyes for the truth, the exchange had only lasted a short moment, but it left Merry shaken and cold. He had been the one to look away first. But Hamfast was a good man and never once addressed the issue, respecting the young Brandybuck's privacy. But it was plain he didn't approve of his silence.  
  
Merry drifted deeper into his thoughts. It had begun last year. *Was that all? Just one year. It seems so much longer.* He expelled the breath he was holding and ripped himself from the past before the memory seized him. Forcing a smile as his breathing calmed and pushed all such memories to the back of his mind, he quickly dressed and took comfort in the knowledge that his older cousin Frodo and friend Samwise would arrive from Hobbiton soon.  
  
It would be dear Pippin's Birthday in a week's time and Bilbo had managed to persuade Hamfast to allow Samwise to accompany Frodo and him to Buckland for the celebration.  
  
Merry smiled as he remembered how excited Sam had been when Merry had passed on the forgotten invitation from Pippin, then watched as Sam tried stoically to imitate his father's calm persona while awaiting his decision. Merry had caught the twinkle in Hamfast's eyes as he watched his son fidget and play with the light bandage on his wrist. The answer had never been in question, it was a yes, but as his eyes passed over Merry's he conveyed his worry openly to him. Merry understood and, maintaining eye contact, shook his head almost imperceptibly, they understood one another. Only then did Ham voice his decision.  
  
*You're allowing yourself to become very transparent.* He chided as he snapped on his braces and ran a comb through his light brown mop, before quickly brushing his teeth and roughly making his bed. With one last speculative look round his room he opened the door and stepped out into the hubbub that was Brandy Hall and began to weave his way towards the kitchen.  
  
Tbc~ 


End file.
